Sway Tower to go under the hammer for starting bids of £1.6m
ONE of the New Forest’s most eye-catching buildings boasting unrivalled views of the national park is set to be auctioned off for at least £1.6m.
The 220ft Peterson’s Tower – known locally as Sway Tower – will go under the hammer for online offers for three weeks until 22nd May.
The sale is the latest effort by owners Paul and Julie Atlas to dispose of the Grade II* Listed structure in Barrows Lane, which has been on the market for about three years.
Opening bids of at least £1.6m have been set – less than half the £3.5m asked last year when a global list of London-based multi-millionaires and billionaires was targeted in an effort to persuade someone to snap it up.
The Gothic-style building contains four bedrooms and bathrooms, an indoor swimming pool and a tennis court. Anyone forgetting their phone on the top floor, however, will have 330 steps to climb from ground level to get it.
The particulars said: “The tower itself is an impressive circa 220ft high structure that dominates the local landscape, being formed of concrete and having a spiral staircase leading to the upper floors.”
It is reputedly the world’s tallest habitable unreinforced concrete structure and was built in the late 19th century by renowned High Court judge and spiritualist Andrew Thomas Peterson.
There is income potential from about £29,500 a year rent for telecoms equipment, plus about £22,000 from solar panels and, according to the property description, scope for quirky bed and breakfast lettings.
Enterprises to have come and gone at the 14-storey property include a B&B and a restaurant. Mr Atlas, a businessman and entrepreneur, once even considered raffling the tower by selling £10 tickets but ultimately abandoned the idea.
The structure was constructed by Judge Peterson to prove the value of concrete as a building material. He went for an Indian style, inspired by his time in the legal service on the subcontinent.
It is thought to have taken a team of 40 workers over five years to complete the main tower, which sits next to a smaller version off Flexford Lane.
The tower is 5.5 metres square with concrete walls narrowing from 60cm thick at the base to 35cm at the top.
